Our real stories

August 21, 2018November 7, 2018

6 months of amazing experience

Hello again!

I can’t believe that I have already spent more than 5 months in Romania. 5 months of volunteering, of meeting new people, learning to be independent, developing myself, being out of my comfort zone. Everything now seems easier than it looked before coming here. I can say with confidence that coming here was the best decision I have ever made. It changed me a lot.

What I have done?

In this project we had tasks related to youth employability, so we went to schools to present different topics, such as public speaking, creativity, environment, healthy lifestyle by using non formal way with icebreakers, games, interactive activities, group work. We organized Intercultural night to share our cultures and talk about our countries, as well as events about youth opportunities abroad, that you can always choose from different ways after school or university. We had our language courses, and believe me or not, people came and were really interested in learning Lithuanian language! I was surprised and very happy about it! We helped and participated in several festivals in Timisoara. We also went to kindergarden to have activities with children. It was so challenging because they spoke little English and we, little Romanian, but we managed to communicate with them and become their friends!

What I have learned?

What I am really happy is that during all those activities I improved my confidence – at first workshop I was stressed and lost, but later it became easier to manage the situation in class. I improved my ability to work in team and time management as we needed to finish tasks in time. Also I have to mention my English skills – it was never so easy to speak in English.

People!

Special thanks to my housemates Anna, Steve, Alex, Jesus, Olivier, Ferdinand and Lucas – with them in Romania I felt like at home, they made this experience so funny, so good, so remarkable. I am so happy that I went through this experience with them.

For my association, who were always so kind and helpful – president Andreea, coordinator Marina, teacher Lore, and mentor Adelina.

Just for all the people I met during this experience – I learned so much by getting to know so many different cultures, lifestyles, stories and so many good personalities, which made me a more open-minded person.

I am also grateful for my family which was always supportive about my choice, even if some people thought it was just a stupid idea and a waste of time. But I could never say that improving myself, making new friends, travelling and contributing to good project is a waste of time. I am really satisfied with my time here and I am very happy of what opportunities this project gave me! So if you have a chance to do EVS – do it!